Internet in the Air

Susan Stellin writes in The New York Times [subscription required] of plans by JetBlue and other airlines to roll out wireless internet access. Here's a snip:

“I think 2008 is the year when we will finally start to see in-flight Internet access become available,” said Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forrester Research, “but I suspect the rollout domestically will take place in a very measured way.” “In a few years time,” he added, “if you get on a flight that doesn’t have Internet access, it will be like walking into a hotel room that doesn’t have TV.”

An interesting aspect of this article is whether airlines will allow internet-based telephony such as Skype. Happily, at this point, that service already faces resistance. Here's another snip:

Onboard phone calls are “one of those ‘just because you can doesn’t mean you should’ types of technologies,” Mr. Harteveldt said. “The last thing you want is to be in a crowded tube at 35,000 feet for two or three hours with some guy going on and on about his trip to Vegas.”

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Susan Stellin, Web Access and E-Mail on Flights, New York Times, December 7, 2007.